The Journey’ focussing on the long history of the UK’ s busiest airport, opens today at University of West London’s (UWL) campus in St Mary’s Road, Ealing. The first ever Heathrow exhibition will feature a wealth of never-before-seen items, specially selected from the airport’s archive, which have been permanently donated for the public to view for free.
Artefacts dating back to the 1940s tell the story of Heathrow via an exciting mix of media including motion-detection audio, memorable photos of Beatlemania, Princess Diana and other famous passengers including movie star and glamour queen Sophia Loren. Enticing travel brochures from the golden age of air travel, a selection of airline pennants and postcards, historic images and videos of the first concorde, maps and technical drawings all feature.
Last night a launch event to mark the occasion was hosted by Professor Peter John, Vice-Chancellor of UWL and attended by Heathrow’s Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye, and a number of local business and community figures.
Heathrow’s Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said:
“Heathrow has witnessed major historical events, and hosted many remarkable people throughout its long history. We are proud to be Britain’s front door and hope the students, aviation enthusiasts and local people that see this exhibition can feel the same. We were especially pleased to partner with the University of West London to ensure this exhibition resides permanently on their campus, so that generations to come can be inspired to seek a career at Heathrow and form part of our history.”
University of West London Vice Chancellor Professor Peter John said:
“People can discover and appreciate an extremely rich heritage at ‘Heathrow: The Journey’ and we are delighted to host this exhibition which charts its development into one of the world’s leading airports. Heathrow is located inside the University’s catchment area and we enjoy a close business partnership which delivers excellent opportunities for our students – the next generation of talent. Thanks to this relationship, many of our graduates go on to enjoy successful careers connected to Heathrow Airport and we look forward to this continuing long into the future.”
‘Heathrow: The Journey’ has been made possible by donations from Heathrow and the Heritage Lottery Fund donating £100,000 and £79,400 respectively. These donations enable the archive to be preserved for generations to come at UWL, as well as funding this exhibition which charts an important part of Great Britain’s aviation history. Housed at the heart of the university, it will be open daily to the public and free-to-enter.
